New York State Attorney General Letitia James made an uncompromising indictment of Donald Trump and his children on Wednesday, September 21, after conducting an investigation into the tax practices of the family group, the Trump Organization.
During’a press conferenceMme James announced civil lawsuits in a Manhattan court against the former president and his children Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. “We are taking legal action against Donald Trump for breaking the law (…) in order to generate profits for himself, his family and his business”said the prosecutor after an investigation of more than three years and a month after the hearing of the former Republican president by his services in New York.
She said she was seeking $250 million in reparations on behalf of New York State and corporate bans for Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump.
The former president of the United States reacted very quickly on Truth Social, the ultra-right social network launched in February: he denounced a “new witch hunt” and accused prosecutor Letitia James – she is a Democrat – of political intentions: “I never thought this case would go to court, until I saw his very bad polls”. As for the Trump Organization, it considers the accusations against it unfounded.
Testimony of his former lawyer
The civil investigation against the family group Trump Organization had been opened following the explosive testimony, in March 2019 in Congress, in Washington, of Michael Cohen, one of the former personal lawyers of Donald Trump. According to Mme James, the investigations have provided evidence that the Trump Organization, which manages buildings, hotels and golf courses, was guilty of tax evasion by understating the value of some of its assets in order to obtain tax reductions.
These lawsuits are in addition to several investigations already underway against Donald Trump, including one on his presidential archives which led to a spectacular search by the federal police (FBI) on August 8 at his Mar-a-Lago residence, in Florida.
The billionaire, who openly plans to run for president in 2024, is also under investigation into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election lost to Joe Biden and his role in the assault on his supporters. against the Capitol, in Washington, on January 6, 2021. He is not currently prosecuted criminally in these other cases.